kyivpost.com: Pentagon Raises Counterintelligence Threat to ‘Critical’ Over Suspected Israeli Wiretapping

The US Department of Defense has elevated its assessment of the counterintelligence threat posed by Israel to “critical,” the highest possible level. Washington is deeply concerned that Israeli intelligence services have been wiretapping senior US officials – including Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s chief negotiator, and Elbridge A. Colby, a top Pentagon policy official. The suspected espionage targeted negotiators working on a peace agreement with Iran, a move US officials say has “crossed the line”.

The US defense establishment has elevated its internal counterintelligence threat matrix regarding Israel to its highest possible designation.

The emergency adjustment follows intelligence disclosures indicating that Israeli operatives have been actively intercepting the communications of top US diplomats and military planners, The New York Times reported.

Targeting Trump’s inner circle
According to a comprehensive report by The New York Times citing multiple senior US officials, a joint assessment compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and companion military intelligence branches prompted the policy shift. Over recent weeks, the designated counterintelligence threat level posed by Israel was officially raised from “high” to “critical”.

The intelligence community’s primary concern centers on an aggressive Israeli wiretapping campaign targeting US officials who are actively molding Washington’s shifting diplomatic framework with Iran.

The classified logs explicitly name several high-profile targets of the surveillance intercept: US President Donald Trump’s chief negotiator tasked with brokering a diplomatic resolution with Tehran and the Pentagon’s top policy official, alongside one of his primary deputies.

US intelligence veterans noted that while both Washington and Jerusalem have long maintained a tacit, mutually tolerated understanding that they conduct espionage operations against one another, Israel’s recent efforts to aggressively infiltrate and map out the Trump administration’s evolving negotiating positions have “crossed the line”.

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